Never Forget that Look!

Last Sunday one of my favorite life events came around again:  Baptism/Confirmation Sunday.  Those who were there can agree with me:  it is AWESOME.  Those who missed it NEED to see it to believe it.

One of the most powerful parts of the Sunday is the one-to-one moments I get to have with adults and students as they receive their blessing, state their faith, or emerge from the waters of their baptism.  The look in their eyes, on their faces, is remarkable, breathtaking, and holy.  It's the look that says "there's something so powerful running through me right now I can hardly believe I'm alive!"

That to me is the epitome of our lives vested in Christ:  we become so fully alive we can hardly comprehend it.

But in addition to those looks I witnessed on Sunday, I had the rare and delightful opportunity to witness some other looks as well.

Our full immersion baptistery is portable.  We assemble and fill it specifically for these occasions.  In years past, the filling and heating process has been quite time and labor intensive.  So, as we heavily encourage at Horizons, some out-of-the-box thinkers proposed a new plan that would be quicker and better.  I was all for it, and gave the idea the blessing.

Unfortunately, when we go out on limbs to try new, innovative things, not all of them work out the first time.

As I arrived Sunday morning, the first looks I received were from the water heating people.  Looks of concern told me the water didn't get very warm.  Their words rang true as I later experienced for myself:  the water was frigid.

The second, and heavily repeated look, was that of every shocked adult and student as they emerged from the waters of their baptism during the services.  Typically, the first expression on one's face as he or she comes out of the water is of pure elation and joy--I'M ALIVE!! 

However, Sunday's looks were in a slightly different, and expanded order, as I have narrated below:

1. Whoa that's cold!!  Am I still alive?
2. Oh! Yes, I am, and this new life is AWESOME!!
3. Hey...who's this wise guy standing next to me??  Why didn't he tell me it was freezing??
4. Never mind... this is too good to worry about.  I'm alive; I'm saved!

Yet, regardless of any of those looks, the look of our Baptism/Confirmation Sunday was that of totally revived people, pools of baptism water on the floor, and many changed lives.  

It's Monday now, and the world looks pretty good because of this Sunday!  Praise God.

More to come!

Jason <><

Poured Out

It's Monday after the most beautiful and hopeful Sunday of the year.  Easter has come, and we are reminded of and refilled with God's new life through Jesus and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon creation.

Life is good.

Without this reminder and this opportunity to be filled once again, I think we simply march on according to the way things have always been, and we continue to run low on redemption and new life.

So this morning begins another big week for us at Horizons as we confirm students who are professing their own faith and as we affirm several new adult professions of faith though baptism.

It's easy to keep going along the same rhythms of tasks, completions, fixes, and accomplishments.  But I want to keep asking myself this morning:  how does the pouring out of all of yesterday's good news flood into the today?

Maybe it means that we keep pouring our hearts out as well, knowing we have been given enough.  Maybe it also means pouring out our hearts, not to accomplish or complete or solve or improve anything, but simply in order to keep honoring God and receiving new life from God as we deplete ourselves.

It sounds both enticing and risky, but God reminds us in Ecclesiastes (I'm making applications here) that there is a time for pouring out like crazy, and time for being poured into like crazy by God.

So today, as we continue to pour our hearts out for a living God who has invited us to build HIS kingdom, let us trust that God will also continue to pour out into us
, and that He is not really a fan of seeing his creation stalled out on the side of the road because they ran out of fuel.  God keeps his tanks filled enough for the journey.

More to come!


Jason <><

Usually Too Wordy

Last week I blogged about God using me in a way I don't typically get to be used.  This week I'm following up with another unusual event in my life:  a powerful scarcity of words.

Most know I'm rarely short on words.  I admit I fall into the group of people who when lacking what to say about something will say even more in the hopes that perhaps some 25 of the 1,000 words I say may actually be the right ones.

But this weekend was different.  I had planned to send the computer bag I relieved from the harried traveler the day before on Monday while in South Carolina.  As it turned out, I had little time to do so.  It wasn't until this last Saturday that I finally had a chance.

But before I closed the box, I wanted to put something in that bag that would share the good news and power of Christ without closing the heart of the recipient.  After all, I didn't do my kind deed for my own gratification.  But what could I write that would explain my motives and point to Jesus without sounding preachy, churchy, or otherwise self-righteous??

It took me a lot of prayer and a lot of time before I concluded on these simple words:

"Because Jesus loved me and gave me new life, I in turn love you.  Thank you.  (Ephesians 2:4-5)"

That's it.

It still feels strange not to have said more.  But that's all I needed to say.

That's often all we need to say.


More to come!

Jason <><

Getting Used

I'm sitting in the Indianapolis International Airport, getting ready for another flight.  My time away from Horizons has been a good adventure so far:  first a leadership conference for younger pastors, then a leadership conference for aspiring missional churches, then a marriage conference for Sarah and I to reconnect, learn, and refuel.  Now, having mounds of new learning and growth packed into my full brain, I am headed to Charleston, SC to preside over a wedding for a good friend from Doane College.  This last part, although still requiring my pastoral skills, will be the vacation.

But it's fascinating to see what God does with our lives the more we devote ourselves to following Jesus more intently.  My brain might be full, but God's just starting to engage what He's give me.

As I arrived at my gate today and pulled out my phone to check messages, a man with a heavy German accent asked if I had internet access.  He desperately needed to know his connecting flight information for Frankfurt, as his layover was very brief in Chicago.  "The clerk at the desk said she could not help me," he explained.  We both questioned why the clerk couldn't help while I pulled out my computer and set him up.  Within seconds, we had found what he needed.  Deter (his name) was grateful and confided in me as he explained why he was in the States that he was lonely and feeling disappointed with his retired life.  We talked for a while about life, and as he departed, he at least left with a smile as he waved back to me.

Shortly after my first new friend left, another man rushed toward the same gate, furiously shoving the contents from one back into another already-stuffed bag, which he then forcefully shoved into the carry-on dimension bin that states each bag must fit within its space to qualify for boarding.  I admit I initially grumbled.  We as humans are like that:  we are so attached to our material possessions we are thrown into utter disorientation when we have to choose between taking and leaving our things.

But then I noticed his sweat.  It rolled off his bald head and dripped from his nose.  This man had clearly been rushing and was desperate to make his flight.  He ripped his bloated bag out of the dimension bin and wobbled over to check his boarding pass.  The same clerk who refused the earlier gentleman refused this traveler the option to carry his third, now empty bag onto the plane.  "It's a third bag sir.  You cannot travel with it.  The limit is two.  You should have checked it in as baggage," she said.  "But it's empty," the man pleaded as sweat flew from his lips.  "Please help me.  Is it okay?"  The first clerk and another who had come to assist her continued to refuse the man's plea.  "You'll have to throw the bag away," they mandated.

I had seen enough.  Although the clerks see this all the time and probably feel as though they simply cannot give into these pleas, I was coming from a different perspective.

"Sir, can I help you?" the first clerk asked.  I told the clerks and the frantic traveler I simply wanted to get an address from the travel so that I could take his bag and mail it to him.  The clerks were dumbfounded and the man offered me money.  I refused the money and guided him to write his information on a book I was finishing up.  He's from Russia, but he left me an address for his daughter in the US and some drops of sweat.

I'm now waiting for my own flight, and I'm humbled by what God decided to do with my life just now.  I got used.  It feels good; I feel closer to God.  I wish He would use me like that ALL the time.  But what I know is that God doesn't want us just
to wait for Him to use us all the time.  God wants us to take the first steps and reach out to others without waiting for a queue.

I'm excited for my next opportunity to put myself out there to be used!


More to come!


Jason <><

Don't Hand it Back!

It may seem too often that I refer back to Peter's adventurous, but few, steps out of the disciple-packed boat onto the waters before Jesus, but it's truly an iconic lesson for me for many aspects of my life and leadership.

The main point is he got out of the boat.  The second point is that he lost focus and plunged into the water.

But what I love about how it all went down is the journey Peter likely took as he sunk.  I imagine how incredible it must have been for him to be participating at such an intimate level with Jesus.  But I can also imagine how Peter, although soaking in every moment of it, ultimately had that moment many of us have when we realize it just might be TOO good.  It's that moment where we think to ourselves that this wasn't meant for us, but someone who's more capable to handle it, or when we think it's an accident that it's happening to us, and we'd rather hand the moment back than go through the possible pain of failure.

So Peter sinks.  So we sink.

This life experience has visited me twice recently, and I'm thankful I had the intuition and Spiritual guidance to let it be, to love it, and NOT to hand it back.  After all, it's quite difficult for God to work blessings in our lives if we keep handing them back.

Life experience #1:  Moving into our house last weekend.  It was an entirely overwhelming experience.  But NOT because there was chaos and disaster, but because it was too organized, too efficient, and too well supported by church, family, and friends.  We were done moving in 2 hours flat!  Things were going so well that I could no longer control it or be involved in it.  I had to just let go and trust and soak it all in.  (I'm thankful I didn't try to slow the process down or turn anyone away!)

Life experience #2:  Ground breaking on our Patio project at the church (an outdoor facility for recreation, conversations, and new community).  The project has felt relatively safe on paper, but the moment our project manager shared that not only would we make a couple pock marks at the ceremony, but that by the afternoon, the location would be excavated and leveled for footings and cement, I felt a wave of panic.  My instinct, like Peter's, was to run out to our graceful project manager and ask him if we could just think about it a little longer and make sure we're all ready to go before moving forward.  Thankfully I didn't.  This is God's work and God's blessing.  Let it go, just float in this moment Jason... are the words I spoke to myself.  Stay on the waters and keep your eyes on Jesus.  He wants to use this Patio as HIS dock.

And so, a week later, our house looks like we've lived there half a year.  And yesterday, before I even left the church for the day, I had the joy and treat of catching Josh Hardesty, whose children we recently had the chance to baptize, doing one of the things he does best:  moving dirt!

My lesson:  Don't hand it back.  This is God's, and it's yours.


More to come!

Jason <><

The Failing 50s!

A few years ago, as an engaged couple Sarah and I visited my good cousin of mine, a retired Naval officer, who lives outside of D.C.  We went to church with him while we were there, which was a treat.  Of course, after the service, we headed to the doughnut and coffee line where we were greeted by a very friendly man.  Even IF I was a pastor and currently serving a church, we were still a little nervous to be the targeted guests at another church.

The man who approached us quickly learned about our connection to his church and about our upcoming wedding plans.  Then he began his wedding advice.  Sarah and I braced.  I counsel couples as part of my role.  I already knew all the good things to pass on to others before they get married.  Sarah was anxious about him saying something that would conflict with our values.

Then he said these words of advice that have rung so true and wise for us during these last couple of weeks before the move:  "Look.  Forget what they say about making things 50/50, about you each carrying equal weight in your marriage..."  We thought he was going to remind us that I, as the husband, was to be the head of our household.  We embrace that completely now, but at the time, it was still something we were wrestling to get our hearts around.  Instead, he continued as such:  "Instead, you each give it 100/100.  EVERY DAY.  That's what a marriage takes.  You don't count your efforts and make sure they match or exceed the other's.  You give it your all.  And when your 100% turns out to be much less than the other's 100%, it still works.  You'll both be pouring all you are into things, but when you fall short, the other person's 100% will cover yours."

It's simple, but brilliant advice.  And it's true.  This last week before our Saturday move, Sarah trudged through her midterms, which were nothing but exhausting.  Things at church also have a way of getting intense as we approach Easter and a new building project.  But as it went, Sarah's 100% was to get through her week the best she could.  My 100% was to stay engaged with the church, but it also included managing most of the final move process:  closing documents & arrangements, address & utility changes, packing, cleaning, & cooking, etc.

If we were stacking our 50/50s next to each other, conflict surely would have arisen.   But when we stacked up our 100/100s, knowing we were both giving it our all, we simply realized how much we love and care for each other, and how much God is willing to be present with us to give us exactly what we need--nothing more, nothing less.  There was no shame, no guilt, no resentment between us.  Just pouring all we had into this thing we call our life and family.

Now it's Monday, and I'm at the church once again.  But Sarah is on spring break--free to tackle all the lingering projects and unpacked boxes.  Her 100% is going to be huge for us this week.  And I'll give my 100% as well.  It won't have nearly the same affect as Sarah's but there's no shame, no guilt, no resentment.  And God is good.


More to come!

Jason <><

Funny Animal

As Sarah and I prepare to move into our first house together, our apartment grows more and more stale and bare.  It's sad for us at times to see our first home slowly fade into boxes.  Additionally, the added task of packing has added to the stress of the season.  Ultimately, however, I've been thankful for God's presence in this time, as I think we're doing pretty good.

At least on the surface.

Although I may seem to be alluding to underlying tensions and destructive behaviors, I'm not.  We're safe.  But I do know that while we feel we're doing great with the task of moving, it is weighing on us heavier than we realize sometimes.  Sarah tells me every morning about the particular dream she had that night about the house--company, decorations, events, etc.  I on the other hand, usually wake up to hear stories, once again from Sarah, about the out loud conversations I was having in my sleep.  They are outrageous to hear about, and nearly as frequent as Sarah's house dreams.

But there's another thermometer we use to gauge the levels of stress in our home.  Our cat Gizmo.

When the cat gets freaky, we realize we might be carrying a little more stress than usual.  Again, we're not necessarily carrying the full weight of the world, but Gizmo is surely telling us there are a couple good-sized rocks in our packs.

So the cat is a little freaky these days.  Nightly sprints, morning sprints, anytime sprints--all around the apartment (no one's chasing her, I promise), lots of loud meows, bushy tails and army crawls arrive at the slightest sounds, and the occasional butterfly stomach sneaks up and causes her to give back her supper.

Poor cat.

But we figure if we can make it, so can she; and if she can, we can.  Here's to funny animals and our reactions to stress.


More to come!


Jason <><